Next Week's Program: 
(EOC) Shelia Barry (Cupertino Rotary) - Coaniquem Burn Center
 

Bring a gift!

Upcoming Events:
12/15  MVHS Madrigals Holiday Program
 

12/19:  Holiday Party

See our Calendar for other important dates.

To see Neighboring Club meetings go to Clubs

To our Website

To District 5170

BEGINNINGS:
Arriving at the Garden House, we were treated to an experience greeting committee comprised of members JEAN HOLLANDS, CLYDE NOEL, and JOAN ROSSELLE.  They set a standard for greeting we could all learn from.  What a nice friendly welcome!

Pres. MARLENE asked DUDE ANGIUS   to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance to begin our meeting on what has become World AIDS Day.

DUDE’S lead was so very appropriate due to his leadership beginning in the fall of 1989 when he asked to club to help make a difference in the awareness of, and fight against, the growing AIDS pandemic.  This World AIDS Day came a little over 16 years from when DUDE’S plea led to the formation of our Rotary AIDS Program (RAP)and its later creation of the multi-award winning documentary, ”The Los Altos Story.”  

Immediate Past Pres. CINDY LUEDTKE shared the thought for the day which was derived from words associated with the work of Mother Teresa called “Anyway.”  Here it is in its entirety since any abbreviation would likely lose the message:

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered,
LOVE THEM ANYWAY.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives
DO GOOD ANYWAY.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies,
SUCCEED ANYWAY.

The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow,
DO GOOD ANYWAY.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable,
BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY.

What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight,
BUILD ANYWAY.

People really need help but may attack you if you help them,
HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth,
GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY.

(I know this will make the Rotator even longer, but I did it - ANYWAY! )

JOHN MCDONNELL brought us into the beginning of the holiday spirit by leading us in a chorus of “Jingle Bells” complete with the jingling of car keys at the appropriate pauses.  By the sound of our assembled group, most of us and recovered from our “Turkey Day” overeating hangovers (that’s referring to hanging over our belt, that is) and were capable of reasonable volume (No doubt The Madrigal Singers will put is to shame in a few weeks, however).  

Pres.-Elect SAM PESNER introduced three visiting Rotarians (DAVID HAMMER from Weaverville, HASSAN ZOROVFY from Madison, WI. and our own District Governor, ARLENE GREENBERG).  Among our guests, DUDE ANGIUS introduced two of the founders of “Face AIDS,” LAUREN YOUNG and JONNY DORSEY, students at Stanford taking a year off to fight AIDS.  Face AIDS is an organization formed to among other things fight the AIDS pandemic on the continent of Africa. 

BOB ADAMS   encouraged all Cal graduates and supporters in the “Cal” yell in recognition of Bear’s win in the “Big Game” that occurred since our last meeting.  (Believe or not, I saw BOB wearing a red sweater vest the next day.   Nice of him to show off the opponent’s colors after leading a “Cal” cheer the day before! 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
OLD & NEW CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS As announced by JOHN MOSS, there is to be a “turnover” of Rotarians in the Los Altos City Council.  KING LEAR and JOHN MOSS will be stepping down after dedicating the past eight years to our town and VAL CARPENTER will be sworn in for her four-year term on the Council.  This event will take place Tuesday, December 6^th at 6:30 p.m.  That’s a new time, not 7:00 p.m., as was stated at the meeting.  Don’t be late or you’ll miss what is likely to be the shortest Council meeting of the year.  Refreshments will follow.

ROTARY FOUNDATION
SAM HARDING reminded everyone who hasn’t yet made their contribution to the Rotary Foundation that it would be best to get your donation to him or WYATT ALLEN before the big raffle drawing Wednesday evening, Dec. 7th.  You can donate anytime, but to be in the running for a trip to the Rotary International Convention in Malmo next June, or a trip to the Honduras Project Fair in January, you need to get your raffle ticket stubs in along with your check or credit card number. 

HOLIDAY PARTY
Speaking of parties (aren’t we always!), our own Holiday Party will be held Monday, December 19^th at the Jesuit Retreat House starting at 6:00 p.m.  The deadline for payment of $45/person is Dec. 12^th.    If you are willing to take a bartending shift, contact KENDRA GJERSETH.  For additional information, contact STEVE GRUBER. (See Handbook for phone numbers).  Please consider carpooling since parking is at a distinct premium and the lighting from the upper lot is meager at best.

DISTRICT CABINET MEETING
District 5170 Cabinet meeting will be held Wed., Dec. 7^th beginning with dinner at 5:30 at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose.  This is a great way to learn about Rotary beyond the club level and get a make-up to boot.  Many topics and projects will be discussed and the drawing for the raffle prizes for Rotary Foundation contributions will be held as well. 

TOYS, TOYS, TOYS (AND MORE)
Please bring unwrapped toys, clothing and more for young and very young children to our meeting on Dec. 8^th or Dec. 15th.  We will be collecting items for Community Services Agency as well as our RotoCare Clinic.   Ideas include toys, games, crafts, clothing (pajamas, socks, fleece items, etc.)   Children’s ages range from pre-school through teenagers.  Thank you in advance for remembering those far less fortunate.

MEMBER RECOGNITION:
SERVICE ABOVE SELF AWARDS Pres. MARLENE awarded Service Above Self Awards to members JOHN CARDOZA,
SAM HARDING ,
DICK HASENPFLUG , JACK HEIDMILLER,
TRACIE MURRAY ,
DAN O’DONNELL, JERRY TOMANEK
 
and SHOSHANA ZIMMERMAN for their efforts to the benefit of our club and our community.  Congratulations ladies and gentlemen!

RECOGNITION TIME
AL TRAFICANTI paid $10/pound for the arrival of his fourth grandchild and became a member of the Explorers Club.  PAUL SCHUTZ also stepped up to the Explorers Club in celebration of his first wedding anniversary and a number of November birthdays in his extended family. 

MIKE HARRIGAN,   using the international flags that we all look at each meeting on the table in front of the podium, managed to both educate as well as extract hard-earned dollars from our members.  Members caught up in this internationally themed quiz included JOE CORRAL, JACK HIGGINS, AMELIA HO, MARLIS MCALLISTER, STEVE ANDERSON, AL LIGHTENBERG, ROY JONES, HERB MARSHALL, DICK HASENPFLUG and MEL KAHN.  Background noise in the crowd identified the Swiss flag as a “backwards” Red Cross standard and the Lebanese flag as that of the City of Palo Alto (well, it did have an evergreen tree in the background, didn’t it?). 

As an aside, BRIAN WARD commented that by using flags of other counties as the prop for fining, we were more likely exploiting other cultures rather than exploring them.

ULTIMATE RECOGNITION
The annual Los Altos / Los Altos Hills Joint Community Volunteer Service Awards Luncheon was held noon on Friday following our meeting and a large number of Rotarians were on hand to cheer for our favorite 2005 recipient, BILLY RUSSELL.  Congratulations BILLY!  MARLENE COWAN was the presenter and all jumped to their respective feet to honor BILLY for the well deserved, hard earned, and much overdue recognition for all that he has done for so many people of our greater Los Altos community.  He was there when our Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Merchants Association were formed.  He was a long-time merchant along with JACK HUSTON.   He served thirty-seven years on the El Camino Hospital Board and was President for a quarter century.  BILLY, you are a tremendous inspiration for not only those of us as Rotarians, but everyone who lives and or works in Los Altos and our contiguous communities. 

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
[Publisher's note.  Our speaker today has asked that her name not be displayed in the Rotator.  Thus, I have replaced it with a series of x's, and have removed her picture. ] 

Our speaker was someone most of us may never have heard about before today’s World AIDS Day talk, but I would imagine most of us will not forget xxxxxxxxxx.    Can you imagine losing your parents at age one in a way almost unimaginable?  (Her father was imprisoned for life for killing her mother).  Can you imagine growing up in your aunt and uncle’s home being abused and disrespected continually? (She looked like her father and reminded her aunt and uncle of the person who killed their sister or sister-in-law).  Can you imagine being placed into undesirable foster homes only to have the abuse become more frequent and severe? (Foster homes are not well screened in the Southeast).  Can you imagine finally meeting a person who would treat you with respect and cared for and about you, only to learn you have contracted HIV from him? (The man who she grew to trust and love could not even be honest about his illness with her).  Can you further imagine being totally on your own at age 17, not having anyone but a sister you wanted to protect and extended family that couldn’t care a lick about you?  That’s where xxxxxxxxxx (xxxxxxxxxx for short)  xxxxxxxxxx found herself.  She was alone, had nobody to turn to, and was infected with HIV. 

Now let’s fast forward to the xxxxxxxxxx of today.  She has managed to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from a small liberal arts college in Georgia.  Following her graduation, she was awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship and studied at Leeds College in England for a year.  She is now in her final year in law school at UCLA.  You don’t expect someone with all the challenges of her youth and formative years to have the drive, determination, ability and will power to pull herself up, meet the horrendous challenges head on, and accomplish what she has while maintaining a positive outlook on life.  Rather than drop into despair upon learning of her HIV affliction, not to mention keeping a positive outlook despite the terrible travails of her youth, xxxxxxxxxx has become an inspiration to any and all who have faced seemingly insurmountable challenges in life. 

After learning she was infected with HIV, xxxxxxxxxx turned to organizations in service to others.  She began to speak in schools to educate students about how AIDS is transmitted and how it can be prevented.  She helped them understand that AIDS is not discriminatory and doesn’t only infect those with dangerous life styles.  In her words, she turned her mistake into a message for others in hopes of preventing others from being infected with HIV.  Imagine the courage and self confidence she had to muster in order to face strangers and share her tragic story with them. 

She became connected with local Rotary clubs.  She has experienced everything from indifference to avoidance to denial to support.  Gradually, support grew and she helped initiate a Georgia Rotary AIDS Awareness Program. 

Statistics xxxxxxxxxx relayed to us all are very scary.  Over 14,000 people are infected with HIV every day worldwide.  That’s ten every minute!  Another 8,000 die from AIDS daily around the world.  That’s almost four every minute!   40 million people suffer from HIV / AIDS around the world today.  Another 25 million have died from this dreaded disease. 

Despite her academic and life accomplishments, xxxxxxxxxx still experiences shame and guilt and the hurt never goes away completely.  She has learned that despite the hurt and shame, she can help others avoid going through what she is going through.  xxxxxxxxxx mentors youth and young adults to help them cope with the challenges they are facing in their lives.  She helps educate students and adults of how the spread of HIV/AIDS can be avoided.  But even xxxxxxxxxx can’t do it alone.  After honoring us for the accomplishments made in the fight against AIDS, she encouraged Los Altos Rotarians to do even more.  Support the efforts and projects of RAP and RFFA.  Mentor young people and become their role model toward forming healthy morals, habits and a strong character.  She even gave a plug for contributions to the Rotary Foundation due to her experiences as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.   

She began the meeting by honoring our club for our efforts against HIV / AIDS.  From my view, xxxxxxxxxx is the one who should be honored for what she has made of herself against virtually all odds and for what she is doing to help others to avoid the disease she was diagnosed with nine years ago.  We can only wish that the drugs she takes to combat the HIV infection (at a cost of over $3,000/month!) will allow her to live a long and fruitful life and provide her the opportunities to continue helping others despite having grown up with little or no help from others.  I can’t think of a more courageous person to have as our World AIDS Day speaker.  Yes, xxxxxxxxxx, you are indeed an inspiration for all of us.  More power to you, xxxxxxxxxx, and we wish you every possible success in life.  If anyone deserves it, you do!